User blog:Corbierr/Never Meant To Be Friends~ A Joytricia One-Shot
Joy's POV: “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” Joy said, angrily following Patricia into their bedroom. “After all I’ve been through!” The two friends were having a heated argument over Sibuna- specifically, that Patricia didn’t tell her anything about what had happened with the Sinners, and Frobisher, and Ammut. She had to learn by accident, when Fabian and Eddie were talking about the night of the Sinner storm in the kitchen (why they were having a private Sibuna discussion where anyone could overhear was anyone’s guess) and she happened to walk in on it. So she tried to talk to Patricia about it, but got shut down almost immediately, with her best friend refusing to say anything about that night or the mystery in general- as if Joy didn’t know things already! It took admitting she overheard the boys discussing everything to get Patricia to talk, and that was when the argument started. She was accused of being selfish and nosey, which hurt like hell to hear. So why not fire things back? She just didn’t appreciate being kept out of the loop- it wasn’t being selfish, it was being curious, and that’s what she wanted her friend to understand. Patricia turned around, her hazel eyes like two small fires. “All you’ve been through? Joy, let’s check the facts for a minute, yeah? You were removed from the house and just sat home playing chess all day while the rest of us had to do the hard work! I don’t care if you were kidnapped, because it was just your father! I had to deal with Rufus! And betrayal from everyone! People looked at me like I was insane because I was worried. I was worried about you. And then you went and complained about never getting to be in Sibuna, because, oh, you never stopped to think that all of us were in danger and none of us wanted to get you cursed as well? That was Nina’s idea, by the way. You know, the one you tried to get kicked out of the school over Fabian? Nice move, yeah? Amazing what you’d do to someone who helped to save your life a few months before. I’ll keep that in mind!” Hearing her friend say such things, getting so venomous towards her, so angry, was sickening and scary, but also infuriating. But Patricia continued on, as Joy imagined everyone else in the House gathering in the hallway to listen to the rarity of the friends having an argument; or, rather, a one-sided screaming match. “Then you saved the day, but only after you tried to kick everyone out of your life. And then you went to go and quit us again once you get to finally join, even before things get rough, without explanation, without care for the rest of us that needed you! I needed you! Did you ever realize that? But then? Then you go and get angry when we don’t tell you anything, just like you are right now! Why should we have told you anything, Joy. Why should we have trusted you? All you did was turn your back on us when you couldn’t handle it anymore. We’ve all been heartbroken, Joy. You’re the only one who was selfish enough to leave because of it. I had no reason to tell you anything.” Victor popped his head into the room. “What’s going on in here?!” Her friend looked at him, then back at Joy, with hard eyes. “Nothing at all, Victor.” Their housefather grunted and walked off, obviously not caring to dig any further into the situation. The two girls were alone again. Patricia stopped looking at her now and sat down on her bed, drumming her fingers on the pillow she put in her lap. Her friend was agitated; but that was not any kind of surprise right now. Joy was also upset. Her emotions were starting to overwhelm her. She was a mess of negative feelings- sadness, fear, anger… She tried to control herself and keep the emotions from seeping into her voice when she said, “I don’t think you really understand. I didn’t mean to abandon anyone, you abandoned me!” “Do you really feel that way, Joy?” Her friend’s voice was trembling. “I tried to be there for you! But I guess it didn’t really matter.” Patricia stood up and let the pillow fall to the floor. “You found your new best friends, and I guess I found mine too! You know, in Sibuna. The team you left?” “Well, I can see I’m not wanted,” She said, voice starting to shake as well. It was hard to hold it back. “You might as well just admit you never wanted to be my friend in the first place.” Patricia looked confused, but Joy was too angry to believe that she really was. “What are you talking about?” “You were the one resistant to being friends in the first place,” Joy told her, starting to tear up. “Remember? You told me you didn’t need friends...until being the school weirdo got too much for you to bare,” Her friend’s jaw dropped and she could see tears beginning to form. But all the sympathy in the world didn’t stop her from finishing the statement. “You know? Maybe it would have been for the best! Maybe we never should have been friends!” Patricia’s face went blank with shock and horror. Joy began to regret what she had said. “I...well...I...I just...just...goodnight, Patricia.” She left the room, quietly closing the door behind her, and then ran to her own bedroom in tears. Why did she say those things? She didn’t really mean them...but it was too late now. And maybe it was true...maybe the two of them just weren’t really made to be friends…this proved that, if nothing else. Mara was on her bed studying, and looked up in shock. “Joy! What happened?” “I had a fight...with Patricia...I don’t want to talk about it. Anyways, studying. That’s a good idea. I should do that…” Joy said, pulling out her chemistry textbook. “Are you sure you don’t want to-” “I said I’m fine!” She snapped. “Okay?” Mara nodded nervously and went back to studying. Joy opened up the book and did the same, keeping a tissue box nearby to try and keep the tears from getting too heavy. She was barely focusing on the text she read, but was trying her hardest. It wasn’t long before Willow came in and tried, in her own Willow-y way, to help her, until Joy was forced to practically shout at her to get her to leave. Mara had to spend the rest of the time making Willow the calm one after that, which was fine because it meant both of them were in the kitchen having ice cream and not there to insist on helping her. She managed to keep reading the book even after the Ten O’clock pin dropping. It wasn’t interesting to her in the slightest; but anything was better than thinking about the fight. However, it was of no use. Because every few words she read, her mind would just go back to the argument. Charged particles, known as ions… I shouldn’t have said those things. ...produce electricity… But she said things too! It wasn’t all my fault for what happened! Her eyelids were starting to get heavy. ...and give off light… Maybe it would have been for the best. Joy thought again. Maybe we shouldn’t have been friends… we’d probably both be better off! Why did we even want to be friends? And when her head hit the pillow, those very words were the last things on her mind. ---- Joy woke up to the blinding morning sun illuminating all corners of the room. For just a second, she sat up, confused and dazed, then remembered the night before. She groaned and sat back down in her bed, not wanting to get up just yet. The door opened. Mara walked in. “Joy! Come on, we’ll be late for class. Get up,” She groaned again and put her pillow over her head. “I’m not in the mood.” “Why not?” Annoyed, she sat up again and stared at Mara. “Because! I’m tired! Patricia and I had that fight last night, and I don’t want to have to sit there in class and see her and feel all-” Mara frowned and looked at her. “Who?” “Patricia!” She snapped. “Patricia Williamson! Oh my god…” “Oh, her! That girl from Isis House! Didn’t she move out of the school last year?” Joy nearly fell out of her bed. What on Earth was Mara talking about? This made no sense! “What?” “You didn’t hear about that? Apparently, she got into a fight with Mr. Sweet about something aaaaand...she got expelled. But it’s not like anyone here really knew her, anyways...especially not you. Why are you suddenly bringing her up, anyways? Are you feeling okay?” “I...I need some water.” She said, feeling sick to her stomach. Joy jumped to her feet and ran out of the room, nearly pushing Mara out of the way. Reaching the kitchen, she nearly slammed into Trudy, who was putting away the rest of the dishes. “Sorry, Trudy, I…” Trudy smiled at her. “Oh, it’s quite alright, sweetheart.” “I’m just...Patricia Williamson. Do you know her?” The housemother paused to think for a while, then said, “You know, I think she used to be living here in Anubis House. Oh, but that was years ago. She left just around the same time you came in. Moved to Isis House. Why?” “No reason…” Joy sat down at the table, stunned. She took the time to count the chairs, and of course, there was one less. Fitting, for one less student in the House. But Patricia’s not just one student! She’s my best friend! Her eyes began to well up with tears and she simply sat there, sobbing into her arms. That is, until Victor walked in. “Joy Mercer! Why are you not at school? And where is your uniform?!” Too upset to protest, she mumbled an apology and ran off to get dressed. Joy took the time to also peek into Patricia’s former room, where of course, all the clothes in the closet now belonged to Willow. It was like her friend was never there...of course, she wasn’t. At school, she was late for class, and hurried to take her seat, ending up next to Fabian. Within a minute, she noticed two things. One- Fabian had his backpack in the seat just before she arrived. Was the seat...saved for her? And for the second thing...the teacher was Mr. Winkler. How did this make sense? Wasn’t he dead? Or at least...he was gone! Joy tried not to stare at him in surprise, and instead turned her focus to Fabian. That was easy, because he seemed to want to actually be around her for once. “Hey,” He whispered to her. “Are you okay? I missed you this morning.” “Yeah, I’m...I’m fine,” she said, lying as best she could. “Why?” “Why? W-well, you’re my girlfriend. I kind of have to be worried when you don’t show up,” Fabian sounded mildly amused, but only a bit. “Right?” “Girlfriend.” Joy mouthed to herself, then looked at him. “What about Nina?” There was once a time when she’d have been thrilled to hear this, for obvious reasons. But she now loved Jerome...Jerome! What happened to him? She looked around the room, but couldn’t see him. He looked confused. “Joy, Nina and I were just friends...are you okay? Mara said something about you seeming sick earlier...did you sleep last night?” “Of course I did!” She said, louder than she should have. Jason looked at her. “Quiet, please, yeah?” “Sorry, sir.” Joy said, then turned back to Fabian. “Where’s Jerome?” She asked, dropping her voice to a whisper. “He moved out of this school weeks ago, remember?” She shook her head, then stared at her notebook, thinking about how all of this could have been possible. If Patricia was not in Anubis House, then that means Fabian or herself would not have been friends with her. Their trio would have been a duo, explaining why they were now dating- she was always alone with him whenever they hung out, and that turned into romance. As for Nina...perhaps something Patricia did during the time Joy was gone had caused “Fabina” to happen. Jerome...he must have cheated on Mara and Willow again, but since she was with Fabian now, he probably had nobody to help him and thus he left the school after being pushed out of it by Mara’s bullying. Maybe he was at that school where Poppy now was, living with his father and her, far away from Anubis. Jason? Jason was the odd part of this. Didn’t he have a degenerative illness? Maybe it wasn’t killing him all that fast. Maybe he had left instead because of how he hurt Patricia… What else was missing? Eddie! She swallowed and glanced around the room to see Eddie sitting with KT, holding hands, being a couple. I should have seen that one coming. But this was all wrong! There was an empty feeling now. But maybe it was just she who felt it. She tried to consider why Patricia, in this world, fought with Mr. Sweet. It then dawned on her. When Joy first met her, she was a loner. Cynical, sad, and perpetually alone. She also had her temper. Patricia had her temper in the present, sure. But she could never control it when they first met. Joy helped her relax. If she had never become Patricia’s friend… What have I done? The tears began to come again, but she tried her hardest to keep them back. She pulled her phone out of her bag, and searched through it. “What are you doing?” Fabian asked, speaking quietly but worriedly. “You’re going to get in trouble.” “I don’t care,” Joy said, shrugging him off. “I need to see something.” Jason spotted her. “Phone away, Joy. We’ve been over this. This is class, not the lounge room. Pay attention.” How many times had he had to give her that warning in this world? He sounded tired and annoyed, and by his wording...it must have been a lot. But she ignored him and looked at the pictures. All of them were either selfies, or her and Fabian. What about the trip she took with Patricia and Piper around France? And for that matter, what about her wallpaper? It used to be the picture of she and Patricia that used to be in the bedroom until Victor burned it. Now it was a picture of a Fabian. Shirtless. Apparently, he had a six-pack in this world...interesting. Oh my god… She went to put her phone away, unable to see any more, but then she ended up knocking her backpack over and spilling the papers all over the floor. Papers...and make-up. Joy ignored Jason’s obvious annoyance at her and went to pick everything up. All the papers were tests and homework...and all of them were failing grades. I am horrible in this world! But it all made sense. Patricia was the one who had managed to stabilize her as she stabilized Patricia. Patricia taught her to focus more on grades and brought her down to Earth...she learned to focus more on substance, and not just looks… Patricia changed her just as she changed Patricia. And now it was all gone… Right there, in the middle of class, Joy began to sob. She couldn’t help it; this was all too much to bear. She didn’t care that people were staring at her, flocking around her, whispering about her... “Whoa, Joy, what’s wrong?” Jason asked her. “Talk to us, what is it?” Fabian put his hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away. “Leave me alone!” She snapped, standing up. “This is wrong! We shouldn’t be dating! You should have been dating Nina!” Joy cried, and turned to others. “Eddie, KT, you two shouldn’t be together either! Eddie was supposed to be with Patricia…” She started sobbing, and could barely talk. “I was supposed to be with Jerome! Patricia...Patricia is supposed to be here! It’s not supposed to be this way!” “Joy, please, go to the-” She turned to face Jason. “You shouldn’t even be here!” Joy cried. “You and Patricia were close! So close that when you hurt her, you were driven to leave!” Everyone went silent and started murmuring to each other. They must have thought she was insane. Well, maybe she was. Maybe she should be! “Dont look at me like that!” She screamed, turning around to look at all her classmates. “She was our friend! She was my friend! She should still be here, sitting next to Eddie, teasing him but loving him at the same time, because you know what? She was never good at her feelings… She should be in Anubis House, rooming with KT! She should be here! She’s my best friend! I want her back!” Joy fell to her knees, as everyone now was simply staring. “I’m sorry Patricia! I was wrong...we needed each other! I needed you… we had to be friends! We just had to be! I’m sorry! I’M SORRY!” She closed her eyes, curled up into a ball, and sobbed, repeating the words “I’m sorry...I need you… you need me… I’m sorry…” over and over again. I need you… ------ “Joy, are you okay? Joy, wake up!” She snapped awake to Mara standing over her bed, gently shaking her. “What?” Joy asked, sitting up. “You were having a bad dream,” her friend told her. “You started shaking and crying…” She frowned. “I was dreaming?” Mara nodded. “So that means Patricia is still in the school?” “Well, yeah-” Before her friend could finish, she jumped out of the covers and ran down the stairs as fast as she could. At the table was Patricia. They didn’t look so good. Messy hair, red and puffy eyes, a plate full of uneaten food… Joy probably seemed the exact same to someone else. “Patricia!” She cried, running over to her. Patricia stared at her. “What?” “I...I’m sorry! I was wrong! I need you, okay? I always have… and you needed me… I was wrong, Patricia. We were always meant to be friends. I’m sorry I abandoned you… I was being selfish...Please, forgive me…” Her friend stood up and looked at her. “Joy...thank you.” Patricia pulled her into a hug, and again, Joy found herself sobbing. But this time, it was tears of happiness. “I forgive you…” “You...You don’t need to.” “It’s okay!” She said, hugging her harder. Joy didn’t mind. It felt good. “It’s okay…” “Are we still friends?” “Best friends…” Patricia told her, as they broke out of the hug to look at each other, yet remained holding each other close. “That’s how it was meant to be, yeah?” She nodded with a tearful smile. “Always.” Category:Blog posts